Tech at Night: The Patent fight is on (with bonus Logan Act “violation”)

Looks like we have the same problem going on with patents we’ve had with so many other legislative issues over the years. There’s a kernel of a good idea (go after patent trolls), but then the lobbyists all pile on, and we get a monster of Comprehensive Patent Reform. Which works about as well as comprehensive immigration reform or omnibus budgeting.

Patent trolls are a real thing. The trial lawyer lobby games the system, fake inventions are jammed through the USPTO (which has an incentive to generate more patents to keep more fees), and genuine innovators get slammed. We need to fix that, but we don’t need a big, lobbyist-infested, comprehensive bill.

The sales tax fight is back on for this Congress. Last time the rhetoric was strongly tuned to appeal to Democrats, the plan overreached, and was DOA in the Republican House. We’ll see what happens this time, to see whether they’re willing to dial it back, win over conservatives, and get a bill passed.